The present invention relates to a method for regulating the power consumed on an electric grid and an entity for controlling the consumption of a plurality of preselected electric current consumers on the electric grid.
In light of the economic and technical difficulties of storing large quantities of electricity, it is necessary to maintain a continuous equilibrium between the consumption and production of electricity on the electric grid. In order to guarantee that the supply is adapted to the demand at any given time, rigorous and continuous management of the consumption loads and production programs is crucial: this is the primary stake in managing the grid. The use of intermittent production means of the renewable energy type (wind, solar) and the heat sensitivity of certain uses (electric heating, air conditioning) reinforce the criticality of this management of the balance between production and consumption during certain periods of the year and/or certain times of day.
In order to regulate consumption and production, and respond to a quick variation in supply or demand, the entity responsible for managing the grid, also called grid manager, has power reserves that can be mobilized. There are three types of power reserves that can be mobilized: a primary reserve, a secondary reserve, and a tertiary reserve.
It is important to note that what is described as a power reserve above and hereinafter does not correspond to an energy store, but to additional production capacities of certain electricity producing sites or consumption decrease capacities provided by a reduction in the power consumed by certain electricity consumers, which can be implemented if needed.
The primary reserve is the power reserve with the shortest response time, i.e., less than 30 seconds. It is activated automatically and continuously based on the variation in the frequency of the grid. The production groups or electricity consumption sites participating in this reserve adapt their supplied/consumed power based on the deviation between the frequency of the grid and a reference frequency, for example equal to 50 Hz for France.
The secondary reserve is globally similar to the primary reserve, but can be activated in a larger length of time, in the vicinity of several minutes. The secondary reserve, which is also automatic, acts after the primary reserve and is intended to reestablish the frequency of the grid at the reference frequency. It is managed in a centralized manner by the entity responsible for managing the grid.
Lastly, the tertiary reserve comes into play when the available secondary reserve is insufficient. Unlike the primary and secondary reserves, which are automated, the tertiary reserve is implemented manually by the entity responsible for managing the grid in a time frame generally shorter than 15 minutes.
It thus appears that the grid integrates excess electricity production capacities that are either implemented only during high consumption and high demand periods for electricity, or mobilized in the form of available power reserves at any time to ensure the equilibrium of the grid, i.e., for example, an electricity producing site limits its electricity production in order to be able to provide a power reserve at any time. The mobilization of these excess capacities creates significant costs for the producer and the distributor. That is why different solutions have already been proposed to reduce the power consumed by certain consumers.
FR-A-2,937,473 thus describes an entity for regulating the electricity consumption on the grid, that entity performing a series of individual actions on different preselected consumers, based on parameters transmitted by the preselected consumers, such as the maximum acceptable value for the power reduction.
Furthermore, at this time and in the majority of countries throughout the world, the participation in the different reserves described above is primarily done by electricity producers. In order to vitalize the market for different reserves, and to promote environmental protection, it may be interesting to promote consumer participation in the different reserves. Thus, by reducing or modifying their consumption in accordance with the instructions from the entities responsible for managing the grid, consumers can contribute to the aforementioned reserves and thus compete with or replace the offers by electricity producers.
However, the participation in most of the reserves, and in particular primary or even secondary reserves, has proven difficult and expensive for consumers to implement inasmuch as it implies a very short reaction time by the entity providing the reserves.